1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to articles with skin-protecting and moisturizing compound, specifically wherein the compound includes partially hydrolyzed fucoidan.
2. Description of the Related Art
The skin is made up of two major layers. The epidermis is the top layer and forms a protective covering for skin and controls the flow of water and substances in and out of the skin. To stay healthy, the skin has to cope with changing environmental conditions and repair damage at the same time. The skin is in a constant state of repair as it sheds the dead cells on the surface and replenishes the lower layers. The dermis is the lower level of the skin and is the layer that provides the strength, elasticity, and thickness to the skin. Cells in the dermis are responsible for synthesis and secretion of all the dermal matrix components, such as collagen, elastin, and glycosaminoglycans. Collagen provides the strength, elastin the elasticity, and glycosaminoglycans the moistness and plumpness of the skin.
The stratum corneum is the outer-most layer of the skin and is responsible for regulating skin water levels and functioning as a barrier against chemicals and other stressors found in the environment. The complex arrangement of lipids in the intercellular space of the stratum corneum is responsible for the establishment of normal barrier function. Multi-layered structures of cholesterol, ceramides, and fatty acids, as well as some other minor lipids, provide the major barrier to the transport of hydrophilic substances into or through the skin. The link between the barrier function and skin health is apparent from the skin inflammation caused by lipid extraction from the skin.
Skin barrier can be damaged due to a number of mechanisms. One mechanism for damage is physical abrasion, which may be caused by repeated rubbing of tissue products, such as facial or bath tissue, on the skin. With physical abrasion, layers of the skin are stripped away causing damage to the stratum corneum. Also, biological fluids, such as urine, feces, nasal and vaginal secretions, may contain a variety of components that can damage the stratum corneum. Some specific examples include proteases, lipases, bile acids, and fatty acids. Once the stratum corneum barrier is compromised, skin inflammation can occur.
The skin may be abused by soaps, emulsifier-based cosmetics, hot water, or organic solvents, for example. These each contribute to rob the skin of essential moisture, and to create a stressed barrier that does not function properly. Moisture loss and irritation increases, leaving the skin sensitive, scaly, and dry. Free-radical activity multiplies, causing more wrinkles and premature aging.
Furthermore, the skin is subject to deterioration through dermatological disorders, environmental abuse, such as from wind, air conditioning, and central heating, or through the normal aging process, which may be accelerated by exposure of skin to sun. The thickness of the dermal layer is reduced due to aging, thus causing the skin to slacken. This is believed to be partially responsible for the formation of wrinkles. In recent years, the demand for cosmetic compositions and cosmetic methods for improving the appearance and condition of skin has grown enormously.
Excessive hydration of the skin can also have a negative impact on skin barrier. The hydration level of diapered skin, for example, may reach between five and ten times that of undiapered skin. Frequent contact of diapered skin with fluids such as urine and feces may also contribute to increased hydration. Increased skin hydration disrupts skin lipid organization in the stratum corneum, and may increase the skin permeability of irritants, thus increasing the risk of skin inflammation.
Tissue products, such as bath and facial tissue, are commonly used to absorb body fluids and leave the skin dry. These products, in addition to absorbing and wiping fluids, however, also abrade the skin during use and frequently do not leave the skin completely dry and free of the body fluid after use. During frequent use of these products, the skin can become so dry and/or abraded as to appear red and be sore to the touch. To reduce this problem, additive formulations have been applied to tissue products to provide lubricity and moisture. Once deposited on the skin, these products may provide a skin benefit by occluding the skin and protecting the stratum corneum until the damage is repaired.
To date, the moisturizing and/or lubricating formulations applied to tissue products have not been completely satisfactory. Many formulations to date have proven to be unstable, even at slightly elevated temperatures and have tended to migrate into the product matrix prior to use where the formulation is only of minimal, if any benefit. Additionally, many formulations used to date have had very poor transfer rates from the product to the skin where it can be of use. As such, it is apparent that there is a commercial need for hydrophilic lubricating formulations suitable for use in combination with tissue products, such as facial tissue and bath tissue. It would be advantageous if the lubricating formulation could provide a moisturization benefit to alleviate skin dryness, as well as present a soft, aesthetically pleasing feel to reduce friction between the product and skin. Also, it would be advantageous if the lubricating formulations were formulated to be fluid during processing and rapidly solidify after application to the products.
Several U.S. Patents and Patent Application Publications have disclosed the addition of a lotion or moisturizing agent to a tissue. For example, Joseph, in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0058693 discloses tissue products comprising a moisturizing and lubricating composition. The moisturizing and lubricating composition comprises an emollient, a humectant, and immobilizing agent and a compatibilizing agent. Optionally, the moisturizing and lubricating compositions can comprise a dispersing agent, or other components.
In another example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0230069, Hilbig discloses a paper tissue such as a facial tissue or a disposable handkerchief and a method for making a tissue paper product from a tissue paper web. The method comprises the steps of passing the tissue paper web through an embossing nip formed between a first and a second embossing roll, wherein at least one of the embossing rolls comprises at least 30 embossing elements per square centimeter; and passing the tissue paper web through a calendering nip formed between a first and a second calendering roll, wherein the first and the second calendering roll are in contact with the tissue paper web over a contact length measured parallel to the direction of the axis of the first calendering roll exert a pressure onto the paper web of at least 50 N per centimeter of the contact length.
In yet another example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,933,431, Sperouleas discloses medicated tissue. The tissues are to be applied to the nose and produce medicinal vapors for the alleviation of distress occasioned by nasal, throat, or bronchial ailments.
Consumers are increasingly seeking anti-aging cosmetic products that treat or delay the visible signs of actual aging and weathered skin, such as wrinkles, lines, sagging, hyper-pigmentation, and age spots. Consumers also frequently seek other benefits from cosmetic products in addition to anti-aging. The concept of sensitive skin has raised the demand for cosmetic products that improve the appearance and condition of sensitive, dry, and flaky skin and soothe red or irritated skin. Consumers also desire cosmetic products that treat spots, pimples, blemishes, and so forth.
Research shows that using a skin care product that includes the skin's natural building blocks speeds the skin's ability to repair itself and keeps the barrier function of skin at optimal levels. This approach treats the problem, not merely the symptom. Irritation stops before it may start, so recurring problems are avoided, thus bringing the skin back to ideal conditions.
Consumer demand for natural-based products has been growing in recent years. Chemical synthesis is perceived as environmentally unsafe. A chemically synthesized ingredient may contain harsh chemicals. Natural products are perceived as more pure and mild, and thus superior to chemically synthesized products. Delivering a cosmetic benefit from plant sources, however, is not trivial. To derive a real benefit from a natural source, not only does a plant or a part of the plant containing a specific active ingredient have to be identified, but a minimum concentration and/or a specific extract of that plant has to be identified that truly delivers a cosmetic benefit.
Accordingly, consumers demand an effective treatment for the skin and wrinkles that moisturizes, heals, and soothes the vulnerable and delicate surface of the skin. Further, consumers demand that treatment for the skin be based on natural products to promote healing and preserve youthful appearance.
Fucoidan is a sulfated polysaccharide found in many sea plants and animals, and is particularly concentrated in the cell walls of brown algae (Phaeophyceae). Fucoidan is a complex carbohydrate polymer composed mostly of sulfated L-fucose residues. These polysaccharides are easily extracted from the cell wall of brown algae with hot water or dilute acid and may account for more than 40% of the dry weight of isolated cell walls. O. Berteau & B. Mulloy, Sulfated Fucans, Fresh Perspectives: Structures, Functions, and Biological Properties of Sulfated Fucans and an Overview of Enzymes Active Toward this Class of Polysaccharide, 13 Glycobiology 29R-40R (2003). Fucoidan structure appears to be linked to algal species, but there is insufficient evidence to establish any systematic correspondence between structure and algal order. High amounts of α (1-3) and α (1-4) glycosidic bonds occur in fucoidans from Ascophyllum nodosum. A disaccharide repeating unit of alternating α (1-3) and α (1-4) bonds represents the most abundant structural feature of fucoidans from both A. nodosum and Fucus vesiculosus which are species of seaweed. Sulfate residues are found mainly in position 4. Further heterogeneity is added by the presence of acetyl groups coupled to oxygen atoms and branches, which are present in all the plant fucoidans. Following is a representation of A. nodosum fucoidan:

Fucoidan-containing seaweeds have been eaten and used medicinally for at least 3000 years in Tonga and at least 2000 years in China. An enormous amount of research has been reported in the modern scientific literature, where more than 500 studies are referenced in a PubMed search for fucoidan.
The physiological properties of fucoidans in the algae appear to be a role in cell wall organization and possibly in cross-linking of alginate and cellulose and morphogenesis of algal embryos. Fucoidans also have a wide spectrum of activity in biological systems. They have anticoagulant and antithrombotic activity, act on the inflammation and immune systems, have antiproliferative and antiadhesive effects on cells, and have been found to protect cells from viral infection.
Further, fucoidan has numerous beneficial functions that heal and strengthen different systems of the body, including anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti-coagulant, and anti-tumor properties. A. I. Usov et al., Polysaccharides of Algae: Polysaccharide Composition of Several Brown Algae from Kamchatka, 27 Russian J. Bio. Chem. 395-399 (2001). Fucoidan has been found to build and stimulate the immune system. Research has also indicated that fucoidan reduces allergies, inhibits blood clotting, fights diabetes by controlling blood sugar, prevents ulcers, relieves stomach disorders, reduces inflammation, protects the kidneys by increasing renal blood flow, and detoxifies the body. Fucoidan also helps to reduce and prevent cardiovascular disease by lowering high cholesterol levels and activating enzymes involved in the beta-oxidation of fatty acids.
A Japanese study found that fucoidans enhanced phagocytosis, the process in which white blood cells engulf, kill, digest, and eliminate debris, viruses, and bacteria. An American study reported that fucoidans increased the number of circulating mature white blood cells. An Argentine study and a Japanese study found that fucoidans inhibited viruses, such as herpes simplex type 1, from attaching to, penetrating, and replicating in host cells. A Swedish study is among the many that showed fucoidans inhibit inflammation cascades and tissue damage that may lead to allergies. Other studies, such as one in Canada, found that fucoidans block the complement activation process that is believed to play an adverse role in chronic degenerative diseases, such as atherosclerosis, heart attack, and Alzheimer's disease. Two American studies found that fucoidans increase and mobilize stem cells.
Researchers have also determined that fucoidan tends to combat cancer by reducing angiogenesis (blood vessel growth), inhibiting metastasis (spreading of cancer cells to other parts of the body), and promoting death of cancer cells. Certain societies that make brown seaweed part of their diet appear to have remarkably low instances of cancer. For example, the prefecture of Okinawa, where the inhabitants enjoy some of the highest life expectancies in Japan, also happens to have one of the highest per capita consumption rates of fucoidans. It is noteworthy that the cancer death rate in Okinawa is the lowest of all the prefectures in Japan.
Brown seaweed, a ready source of fucoidan, is found in abundance in various ocean areas of the world. One of the purest locations that provides some of the highest yields of fucoidan is in the clear waters surrounding the Tongan islands, where the seaweed is called limu moui. In Japan, hoku kombu (Laminaria japonica), is said to be particularly rich in fucoidans and is similar to limu moui. The Japanese also consume at least two other types of brown seaweed-wakame and mozuku (Cladosiphon and Nemacystus).
Typically, about four percent by weight of Tongan limu moui is fucoidan. There are at least three types of fucoidan polymer molecules found in brown seaweed. U-fucoidan, having about 20 percent glucuronic acid, is particularly active in carrying out cancer cell destruction. F-fucoidan, a polymer of mostly sulfated fucose, and G-fucoidan both tend to induce the production of HGF cells that assist in restoring and repairing damaged cells. All three types of fucoidan also tend to induce the production of agents that strengthen the immune system.
What is needed is an article with a skin-protecting and moisturizing compound that solves one or more of the problems described herein and/or one or more problems that may come to the attention of one skilled in the art upon becoming familiar with this specification. One such problem that is not solved by the cited prior art is the use of a natural component in an article to assist in regeneration, healing, and/or reverses skin damage. Another such problem includes providing an article that assists in anti-aging, regeneration of cells, promoting youthfulness, reducing inflammation, minimizing visible signs of biological and/or environmental aging, and/or fighting free radicals using anti-oxidants.